A middleweight bout between surging contender Constantinos Philippou (12-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) and former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (17-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is expected to be part of UFC on FX 8 in May.

A source close to the event told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) at least one fighter has agreed to the bout. MMAFighting.com first reported the planned matchup.

MMAjunkie.com recently passed along news of UFC on FX 8, which takes place May 18 at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, which is located in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.

The main card, including a Vitor Belfort (22-10 MMA, 11-6 UFC) vs. Luke Rockhold (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) middleweight headliner, airs on FX following prelims on FUEL TV and Facebook. Philippou vs. Souza also is expected to be part of the main card.

Since suffering a decision loss to Nick Catone in his UFC debut, Philippou has posted five consecutive wins. The Serra-Longo Fight Team striker most recently replaced injured Chris Weidman and scored a TKO victory over fellow contender Tim Boetsch. The former Ring of Combat champion also has picked up octagon wins over Riki Fukuda, Court McGree, Jared Hamman and Jorge Rivera during his move into title contention.

Souza, meanwhile, makes his UFC debut following an eight-fight stint in Strikeforce. Since losing his title to Luke Rockhold via close decision in late 2011, the world-champion grappler has posted consecutive stoppage wins over Bristol Marunde, Derek Brunson and Ed Herman. He’s now 7-1 since a DREAM.9 no-contest with Jason “Mayhem” Miller in 2009.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

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